


In From the Cold

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Aliens, Awkward Flirting, Cold Weather, Coulson loves Skye, F/M, Flirting, HYDRA weapons, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Project Pegasus, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romance, Skye makes Coulson a better man, The Tesseract (Marvel), Tropes, Undressing, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Welcome Wagon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 21:32:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2707517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's winter and here is your obligatory trapped in the cold Skoulson fic with sexual innuendo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In From the Cold

"Two guards at the front," she said, looking through the rangefinders. "I don't see anything on the perimeter."

"Sun will be down in four hours," he added, looking overhead.

They both stared out across the forest in front of them dotted with evergreens and covered in a fresh blanket of snow.

"Undercover was out, huh?" she asked, pocketing the binoculars. "Nice, warm, undercover."

"Unnecessary," he answered, staring at the entrance to Providence base. "There's a secret entrance Koenig told me about. We can get in and out without them ever knowing we're here."

"That's if we don't trip any perimeter alarms," she said, shouldering her rifle.

"You drew up this op, right?" he said, looking up at her for a moment, his eyebrows raising towards his watch cap.

"Copy that." She fell in behind him as they circled around the edge of the denser trees towards the back of the rock outcrop.

After travelling in silence, they came up to a sheer rock face as Coulson stared at it, then jammed his hand in between a hollow crevice.

"Because that always turns out well in the movies," Skye said flatly.

"Shhh," he replied, concentrating, then twisting his arm. There was a grinding noise, like something sliding away, and Coulson began to panic trying to pull his arm free as Skye rushed to his side.

"Coulson!" she cried, not knowing what to do.

He suddenly pulled his arm free, chuckling to himself.

She put her hands on her hips. "Son of a..."

Before she could finish, a small entrance had been revealed and he motioned her ahead in front of him, before he stepped in behind her, still smiling.

"Payback's a painful mistress, Coulson," she said, pulling out her flashlight and turning it on in the dark tunnel.

He just smirked at her choice of wording and then found himself bumping into her as she suddenly stopped in front of him.

"Hands," she said, turning over her shoulder, pointing her flashlight down at his hands using her hips to brace himself.

"Sorry, muscle memory," he said, tipping his head at her as she rolled her eyes and shined her flashlight forward, running it over the wall.

"One time, in the temple, and now it's muscle memory?" she said. "Did Koenig happen to mention the secret entrance's secret entrance?"

"No," he said seriously, scanning the wall in front of him with his handheld device. "This shouldn't be here."

"It's been awhile since Koenig's been in here," she said, running her hands along the surface of the rock wall.

Coulson stared over at her. "Skye, let's go. This could be a trap." When she ignored him, he grabbed at her elbow. "Now."

"What does this device do again?" she asked him, frustration creeping into her tone.

"Makes solid objects out of light," he said.

"Okay," she said, tilting her head at the wall. "What if it was turned on, as a defense mechanism? To prevent it from being discovered? This looks just like the wall from outside. Identical."

He pursed his lips and then grabbed her wrist, directing the flashlight back towards the wall. "Okay, you're right," he conceded.

"Jumpy," she said, "Oh, and by the way, it's cold," she added, seeing her breath in front of her.

He adjusted the handheld, looking for the right frequency. "Fitz said if we disrupt the flow of energy, enough of the particles will escape so that the mass will eventually disperse."

"Rendering it totally useless," she replied, squinting her eyes. "Why do we need this again?"

"Because the application of the technology in Fitz's hands could be quite useful. And, he has a birthday coming up," Coulson said, as the wall disappeared in front of them.

Skye turned the flashlight back towards the corridor, seeing it continue as they walked towards the device pointed towards them, quietly sitting on the floor.

"That looks like HYDRA tech," Skye said, staring down at it, recognizing its familiar lines.

"Which is why we don't want it in their hands." Coulson pulled out the black bag and opened it to put the device inside.

They both made their way out of the tunnel and into the light as Coulson hit a button on the wall panel and they watched the door close behind them.

Smiling at each other with a bit of satisfaction, they headed back towards the extraction point.

And waited.

"May should be here by now," Coulson said, looking up impatiently.

"You're worried," she replied. "Don't worry. May's a bad ass."

"May's also on time," Coulson said. "Always. Unless someone's trying to kill her."

"What should we do?" she asked, looking out towards the trees and at the snow falling. "Did Koenig show you how to use that thing?"

He watched her nod at the bag, knowing what she was suggesting.

"It's getting dark," he said. "The temperature is dropping, as, I'm sure you've noticed," he said, running his hands together. "We could use it to make a shelter."

"Can I see the instructions?" Skye asked, holding out her hand. Coulson looked at her resentfully. "How long did it take you get a handle on the black box?"

He glared at her before handing it over.

"Doesn't look too complicated," she said, reading over the display. "Maybe I can program us a jacuzzi?"

"Sounds lovely," he said sarcastically, digging through his bag. "We have enough supplies for 8 hours, tops."

"What powers this thing, anyway?" she asked.

"It's Tesseract stuff," he said, glancing up at her.

"Crunchy HYDRA outside, chewy Tesseract center. Right."

He monitored their com lines while she went to work on it, and there was a noise, like sound being swallowed up, and Skye disappeared suddenly into the scenery.

"Skye," he said, after a long moment.

Breathing out into the cold, he stood up and walked towards where she had been, there was nothing there.

"This isn't funny," he said, turning around, raising his voice. "It's cold out here."

He turned around looking for changes in the environment, any indication she was still here with him, trying not to let his thoughts get carried away. She'd asked him what was in it. And what was in it was...

"Hi."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as she appeared right behind him.

He spun around and took a step towards her, running directly into an invisible wall.

"Sorry," she said, reaching down to hit a button. "You look so angry," she said, smiling.

"Too far," he said, holding up a gloved finger at her.

"Come here," she said, grabbing his finger hand and pulling him in towards her until they were both inside.

He was standing inside a small dark space with her, just the blue glow of the device between them.

"I programmed it to mirror the surrounding environment. We should be hidden in here."

"Okay," he said tersely.

"Coulson, you can't be mad," she said, relaxing for a moment, setting the device down on the ground.

"I'm getting over it," he said. "Slowly."

"I'd never leave you like that," she started.

"I know!" he said, gesturing towards her. "I thought the energy source might have...I've seen things, Skye. What Tesseract weapons can do."

"Body heat!" she said, suddenly, making him jump. "We can raise the temperature in here with body heat."

"What?" he asked with a grimace, becoming more uncomfortable by the minute.

"I designed the shape like an igloo, because, hello, Inuit people have been doing this for thousands of years. As temporary shelters, Coulson," she said, giving him a look. "Not all Eskimos live in igloos."

She faced away from him and started shimmying out of her outer layer. "Where's all our stuff?" she asked, turning back at him.

"Outside," he answered, looking her over. "I'll get it."

She pushed a series of buttons to create an exit and watched him walk out back into the cold and begin to gather their equipment.

Once he was inside again, she sat down next to the machine. "I'm going to make the space smaller. It will trap more heat."

"We could make a wood fire," he said, pursing his lips.

"If we want to be found out," she said. "We have this thermal sack and these warmers. Let's go to town."

Coulson opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

"Getting shy on an op, Mr. Director?" she asked, sliding off her gloves. "I won't peek," she added, turning on the warmer and then throwing her jacket over the device to dim its glow.

Now it was dark, and she could hear the slow rustle of his clothing, him cursing as he bumped his head against the ceiling of the space. He settled down next to her against the fabric lining of the sack, taking a deep breath.

"I don't think we can get a signal from in here," he said. "If May and the others are looking for us."

"I think you're right," she answered. "We'll just have to wait it out until morning."

She turned and leaned across him, felt for the zipper and used it to seal up his side of the sack.

"We got what we came for," he added hopefully. "Not a total failure."

She zipped the rest around them and then they settled into silence.

"It's not really scientifically proven that being naked will increase body heat, you know."

"Are you naked?" she asked, managing to sound appalled and curious at the same time.

"Aren't you?"

"Not exactly."

"Me neither."

He could hear her turning towards him.

"Were you really worried about me earlier?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "For a moment."

"That Tesseract stuff, it scares you, huh?"

"Project PEGASUS. You knew about that one, right?"

"In my pre-SHIELD anti-SHIELD days.  It got a podcast mention, but I wasn't sure exactly what was being covered up."

"We lost a lot of people. I got out as many as I could. It was the Tesseract, we were trying to harness it.  And then, Loki appeared. It's what started everything."

"And you've been carrying that," she said. "I'm sorry."

He raised his arm and put it behind his head, resting on it.

"It put us out in the open, exposed us.  We're not ready.  Just like we weren't ready for the city. It's hard to stay one step ahead of that."

"One thing I do know," she said. "We'll figure it out together."

"Yes," he said.  She could hear the smile in his voice.

"And," she added. "You _do_ have an official alien among you.  Not to brag, but, I'm like the total package.  Welcome Wagon and Alien Ambassador."

"Anything else?" he teased, turning on his side towards her.  "Why stop there? What about Director?"

"Because that's _your_ job," she said. "I wouldn't want to edge you out before your time."

"Is that a crack about my age?"

"Nope," she said.  "With that alien stuff in you, you might just live forever." 

" _Skye_."

"What? A girl can wish, can't she?  Phil Coulson at 50.  Not a bad look."

"I'm flattered," he said, then adding sternly, "Now stop hitting on me."

"Just learn to take a compliment, sir," she laughed.

"Is that all that was?" he asked dangerously. "A compliment?"

He could hear her breathing next to him, unsure of what to say. "I meant it," she finally replied, a hint of defiance in her voice.

"Okay," he said abruptly, and she heard the zip of the thermal sack and she yelped at the sudden rush of cold air as he stood up and walked away.

"Coulson!" she said, annoyed, with shaking in her voice.  "Dammit, it's cold."

She huffed and turned over, pulling the sack over her.

"Jerk."

He sighed and then shivered, kneeling to pull the corner of the bag towards him, trying to slip in next to her and touching her with his feet.

"Oh, I don't think so," she said, moving her leg away. "Keep your cold feet and cold hands away.  You can warm yourself up."

"Look. I'm sorry," he began. "This is an awkward situation, and I should've been more careful, we've never been alone together on an overnight mission, getting stranded here wasn't a possibility I had really envisioned, and..."

She took the words out of his mouth, literally.  He barely had time to react to her kiss before she was pulling away from him, and he reached for her grabbing her back into his arms to kiss her again, his hand reaching behind her head.

"Dammit, you're cold," she said, shivering against him.

"I know, I'm sorry," he answered, kissing her again, deepening it as her mouth opened against his.

"Then stop," she replied, brushing her thumb against his mouth, her hand on his chin.

His palm slid against her waist, as she jerked slightly, finding the gap between her shirt and her skin.

"I need you to keep me warm," he whispered against her ear, his hand travelling up underneath her tank top.

"Until the morning?" she asked, tracing her hand over his bare hipbone.

" _Always_."

 


End file.
